Dental chest



Nov. 12, 1957 T. G. ALTMAN 2,812,880

DENTAL CHEST Filed Dec. 20, 1955 INVENTORQ' 7500) G. ALTMA/V DENTAL CHEST Teddy G. Altman, Hampton, Va.

Application December 29, 1255, Serial No. 554,337 3 Claims. (Cl. 222-94 This invention relates to a chest or casing having means to support therein a collapsible tube of toothpaste and other objects suchas toothbrushes, etc., and further having means to extrude the contents of said tube in selected amounts. M

Summarized briefly, the invention comprises an open front container mountable upon a vertical wall surface, having a lid or door hinged thereto for normally closing the container. The container includes a vertical guideway for a roller adapted to bear against a toothpaste tube supported in a vertical position, while the lid cooperates with a wall of the container in providing a guideway for the roller, cooperating with the first guideway.

The roller may be forced downwardly within the container'for the purpose of exerting pressure against the wall of the collapsible tube, to force a quantity of toothpaste therefrom, with a means being provided receiving the neck of the tube whereby the material forced out'of the tube will be directed forwardly onto a toothbrush orthe like.

One object of importance is to provide a generally improved device of this type, wherein the roller will be supported for vertical movement in a track formed ,by cooperating portions of the lid and the casing proper.'

Another object is to facilitate the removal of the roller whenever desired for replacement of the collapsible tube.

Another object is to provide means on the lid which will normally close the dispensing passage through which the toothpaste flows from the tube, whenever the door or lid is closed;

Still another object is to facilitate the removal of all portions of the device coming in direct contact with the extruded material, to facilitate cleaning of said portions.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a dental chest formed according to the present invention, with-the door being shown in full lines in open position and in dotted lines in closed position; and I Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the chest with the door almost fully closed, taken on line 22 of Figure l.

Designated generally at 10 is a shallow, open front container including a rectangular, flat back wall 12 in a vertical plane, adapted for fixed connection to a vertical supporting surface. Projecting forwardly from the upper and lower edges of the back wall and integral with the back wall are top and bottom walls 14, 16 in horizontal planes. At one end, bottom wall 16 has its front corner cut away to form a right-angular recess 18. Adjacent the recess the container has a side wall 20, cut away along its forward edge from top to bottom thereofto provide a recess'22 in said side wall communicating at its lower end withrecess 18 andformed intermediate its ends with an elongated, shallow indentation 24 providing a track for a pressure. roller to be described in detail hereinafter. H ,At the opposite end' of, the container there is provided P a tented Nov. 12, 1957 a sidewall 26 extending through the full depth of the container. Intermediate the side walls 20, 26 the container has vertically disposed partitions 28, 30 extending fully from top to bottom of the container.

A door normally closes the container and has been designated at 32. This is hinged at 34 along one of its side edges to side wall 26. Adjacent its other side edge, the door is provided on its inner surface with a short tubular cap 36 projecting inwardly of the container as shown in Figure 2. The side edge adjacent cap 36 has an inwardly projecting flange 38 extending fully from top to bottom of the container, and at its lower end flange 38 is formed with a horizontally disposed extension 40 extending along the bottom edge of the door.

When the door is closed, the extension 40 is spaced from the longitudinal edge of recess 18 to provide a vent opening 41 (see Figure 2). Further, in the closed position of the door, the flange 38 abuts against the front edge of side wall 22, cooperating with said side wall to close the container at the side thereof remote from the hinge 34.

Due to the provision of the shallow indentation 34, there is defined between the wall 22 and flange 38, when the door is closed, a vertical slot closed at its opposite ends, and aligned with a corresponding vertical slot 42 formed in partition 30. Slot 42 at its upper end has an inclined extension 44, opening upon the front edge of the partition 30.

A pressure roller 46 extends between the wall 22 and the partition 30, and at its opposite ends has coaxial trunnions 48, one engageable in the slot 42, 44 and the other bearing against the edge of indentation 24. In this connection, the distance between walls 22, 30 is such as to cause the ends of the roller 46 to bear frictionally against said walls. Thus, even if door 32 is opened, whereby it would ordinarily appear that the roller is unsupported at the lefthand end thereof viewing the same as in Figure 1, the frictional engagement of wall 22 against one end of the roller and the similar engagement of the other end of the roller against partition 30 is such as to hold the roller horizontally disposed.

A small ledge 50 is extended between the partition 38 and wall 22, a short distance above the plane of the bottom wall 16, and supported upon the ledge is an L-shaped outlet conduit for the contents extruded from a collapsible tube T. The conduit, at its inner end, has an up wardly projecting, large diameter inlet end portion 52, opening upwardly to receive the neck end of the tube T, with the tube thus being supported in an upright position against the back wall 12. Projecting forwardly from the lower end of the portion 52 is an elongated, horizontally disposed outlet end portion 54, reduced in diameter relative to the diameter of the portion 52, and having its front, outlet end projecting beyond the open front of the container as shown in Figure 2. Therefore, when the door 32 is closed, the cap 36 will close the open end of the outlet end portion 54.

To hold the outlet conduit in proper position upon the ledge 50, said conduit is formed with a pair of small, depending lugs spaced longitudinally of the portion 54 and depending from said portion to fit in complementary openings formed in the ledge 50.

Thus, the outlet conduit can be removed whenever de sired, for cleaning thereof. Further, the ledge St) might also be removable if desired, to facilitate cleaning of any tooth paste that may happen to drop onto the same, during, for example, the removal of an exhausted tube T for the purpose of replacing the same with a fresh tube.

Spaced uniformly apart in a horizontal row adjacent the upper end of the middle compartment of the container defined between partitions 28, 3d are hooks 58, on which can be supported tooth brushes B.

There is also provided a horizontal ledge extending r v l between the walls 26, 28 to support other articles, and to form compartments above and below the same in which various small articles may be placed.

In use, with the tube supported in the upwardly projecting portion 52, the roller 46 is inserted through the inclined upper end portion 44 of the slot of partition 30. The roller, as previously mentioned, will be frictionally engaged between the partition 30 and the wall 22, and will bear against the upper end of the inverted tube T. With the door open, pressure can be exerted with the thumb against the roller, tending to shift the same downwardly within the traekway provided therefor by the edges of slot 42 and of indentation 24 engaging against the gudgeons or trunnions 48. This will cause the contents of the tube to be extruded, said contents being forced through the conduit, it being understood that the brush B will be disposed in position to receive the material flowing out of the forwardlyprojecting end of said conduit.

If desired, the flange 40 can be of a greater width, so as to abut directly against the edge of the recess 18.

Of course, when the contents of the tube are exhausted, the roller .46 can be raised and lifted out of its associated trackway, to facilitate the insertion of a new tube.

It is believed clear that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor changes in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A dental chest and means for extruding the contents of a collapsible tube, comprising: an open front container including a vertical partition and a side wall spaced laterally from the partition providing a compartment in cooperation with said partition in which a collapsible tube may be disposed, said partition having a vertical slot intermediate its Width, the partition extending over the full depth of the container, said side wall being of a width less than the depth of the container; a door hinged to and normally closing the front of the container, said door including a flange at one end projecting toward the container and abutting against said side wall in the closed position of the door, said side wall having an elongated indentation paralleling said slots to form a second slot between the flange and side Wall in the closed position of the door, the first slot having a back edge aligned transversely of the compartment with the edge of the indentation, and the flange having an edge aligned transversely of the compartment with the front edge of the first slot; an outlet conduit in said compartment projecting at one end through the open front of the container and having its other end projecting upwardly Within the compartment for receiving the neck of an inverted collapsible tube to support said tube in the compartment; a cap on the door disposed for closing said one end of the container on swinging of the door to a closed position; and means in the container exposedby swinging of the door to an open position and mounted for movement in a path partially blocked by the supported tube, thus to exert pressure against the tube when shifted in said path tending to extrude the contents thereof through the outlet conduit, said pressure means comprising a roller having extensions at its ends projecting through the respective slots, the roller being shiftable longitudinally of the slots in a direction lengthwise of the supported tube, toward and away from said conduit.

2. A dental chest and means for extruding the contents of a collapsible tube, comprising: an open front conta ner including a vertical partition and a side wall spaced laterally from the partition providing a compartment in cooperation with said partition in which a collapsible tube may be disposed, said partition having a vertical slot intermediate its width, the partition extending over the full depth of the container, said side wall being of a width less than the depth of the container; a door hinged to and normally closing the front of the container, said door including a flange at one end projecting toward the container and abutting against said side wall in the closed position of the door, said side wall having an elongated indentation paralleling said slots to form a second slot between the flange and side wall in the closed position of the door, the first slot having a back edge aligned transversely of the compartment with the edge of the indetation, and the flange having an edge aligned transversely of the compartment with the front edge of the first slot; an outlet conduit in said compartment projecting at one end through the open front of the container and having its other end projecting upwardly within the compartment for receiving the neck of an inverted collapsible tube to support said tube in the compartment; a cap on the door disposed for closing said one end of the container on swinging of the door to a closed position; and means in the container exposed by swinging of the door to an open position and mounted for movement in a path partially blocked by the supported tube, thus to exert pressure against the tube when shifted in said path tending to extrude the contents thereof through the outlet conduit, said pressure means comprising a roller having extensions at its ends projecting through the respective slots, the roller being shiftable longitudinally of the slots in a direction lengthwise of the supported tube, toward and away from said conduit, said first slot and indentation terminating short of the top wall of the container, the first slot having at its upper end a lateral extension opening upon the front wall of the partition.

3. A dental chest and means for extruding the contents of a collapsible tube, comprising: an open front container including a vertical partition and a side wall spaced laterally from the partition providing a compartment in cooperation with said partition in'which a collapsible tube may be disposed, said partition having a vertical slot intermediate its width, the partition extending over the full depth of the container, said side wall being of a width less than the depth of the container; a door hinged to and normally closing the front of the container, said door including a flange at one end projecting toward the container and abutting against Esaid side wall in the closed position of the door, said side wall having an elongated indentation paralleling said slots to form a second slot between the flang and side wall in the closed position of the door, the first slot having a back edge aligned transversely of the compartment with the edge of the indentation, nd he flange having an edge aligned transversely .of the compartment with the front edge of the first slot; an outlet conduit in said compartment projecting at one end through the open front of the container and having its other end projecting upwardly within the compartment for receiving the neck of an inverted collapsible tube to support said tube in the compartment; a cap on the door disposed for closing said one end of the container on swinging of the door to a closed position; and means in the container exposed by swinging of the door to an open position and mounted for movement in a path partially blocked by the supported tube, thus to exertpressure againt the tube when shifted in said path tending to extrude the contents thereof through the outlet conduit, said pressure means comprising a roller having extensions at its ends projecting .through the respective slots, the roller being shiftable longitudinally of the slots in a direction lengthwise of the supported tube, toward andaway from said conduit, said first slot and indentation terminating short of the top wall of the container, the first slot having at its. upper end a lateral extension opening upon the front wall of the partition, said roller being ofa length, exclusive of the extensions thereof, such as to cause the ends of the roller to bind frictionally against said side Wall and partition respectively, in selected positions to which the roller is shifted longitudinally of the slots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Warmuth June 4, 1929 6 Bunting July 26, 1938 Chehak Ian. 29, 1952 Koob Nov. 24, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Australia Nov. 6, 1941 Great Britain June 18, 1931 

